FESTIVAL-goers are being advised to sleep with their valuables in their sleeping bags after figures have been released showing the extent of thefts at last year’s music festivals.

There were 165 reports of theft at V Festival in Chelsmford, Essex last year, while Suffolk’s Latitude - held at Henham Park, Southwold - saw only 28 thefts valuing �5,325.

The value of thefts at V more than doubled last year compared with 2010 but fell short of Glastonbury’s total of �86,928, as detailed in official crime statistics obtained by Aviva Insurance.

Superintendent Steve Johnson from Essex Police said: “V Festival is a safe festival and we want to make sure it stays that way.

“We’ll be working to make it as safe and enjoyable an event as possible for everyone involved but we would ask visitors to follow our safety advice and take sensible precautions to stop their weekend being ruined by a very small number of people who may come to the festival for the wrong reason.

“The festival is a fun occasion and one to which criminals are not welcome. Our officers will be working covertly and overtly to stop them in their tracks.”

A spokeswoman for Suffolk Police said the number of thefts at Latitude varied every year but advised people to take crime reduction measures and keep an eye on valuables while watching the acts.

She added: “People often have cameras, handbags or rucksacks down by their feet - that is the most common way of something being stolen.

“In previous years, thieves have been quite brazen going into tents while people are sleeping so keep valuables in sleeping bags.”

For full news and reviews from Latitude 2012 see our festival section under entertainment.